the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Cloud
Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary
or Clouds in the air, I detain not the reader to notice, but the ministry of the cloud in the church of God, when the people went out of Egypt. I think the particularity of it, and the blessedness of it, demands the attention of the church in all ages. And more so, because the promise is still with the church, that "the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion (let the reader not overlook the every dwelling place), and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, for upon all the glory shall be a defence." (Isaiah 4:5) When we consider the peculiarity of this cloud, when we read expressly who was in it, when we consider the wonderful progress of it in its ministry, then going before, and then shifting its station, as occasion required, and going behind, when we behold the striking account of its ministry, in the difference of its aspect of light to Israel, and darkness to the Egyptians, when we trace the history of it through all the wilderness dispensation of the church, and discover its blessed and beneficial influences to Israel, from Succoth even to Jordan, who but must exclaim, What hath God wrought! Surely, it is impossible for any reader, and every reader, to attend to the wonderful account without joining Moses, the man of God and saying, "Happy art thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee, O people saved of the Lord?" (Deuteronomy 33:29) Let the reader turn to those Scriptures, (Exodus 13:21-22; Exo 14:19-20; Exo 16:10; Numbers 12:5; Deuteronomy 31:15; Nehemiah 9:19; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 1Co 10:4) But when the reader hath paused over these Scriptures, and duly pondered the wonderous subject, I entreat him to carry on the blessed consideration (for it is, indeed, most blessed), as it concerns the Exodus, or going forth of the church of Jesus now. For is not the church the same? Is not Jesus's love to it the same? And doth he not go before it now in the pillar of cloud by day, and follow it in the pillar of fire by night, to guide, to bless, to protect, yea, himself to be the very supply to it, through all the eventful journies of its wilderness state, from the Succoth of the beginning of the spiritual life, even to Jordan, the river of natural death opening to glory? What though the cloud, in the miraculous movements of it as to Israel, is not seen, yet the Lord of the cloud, in his presence, grace, and love, is sensibly known and enjoyed. Surely, Old Testament saints had not advantages greater than New Testament believers. "We now with open face beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18) We have the outer displays of the divine presence, in ordinances, and means of grace, and the blessed Scriptures of truth, like Israel's cloud. And we have the inward tokens, in the Lord himself in the midst, to bless and make himself known in his soul-comforting manifestations. This indeed, is the new creation the Lord promised upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon all her assemblies. Here it may be truly said, "upon all the glory shall be a defence." Precious Lord Jesus! whilst thou art thus gracious, and thus blessed, to thy church and people, we still behold the cloud, yea, now look; through by faith, and behold thee in the cloud, a wall of fire round about, and the glory, as thou didst promise, in the midst of Zion! (See Zechariah 2:8)
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Hawker, Robert D.D. Entry for 'Cloud'. Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance and Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/pmd/c/cloud.html. London. 1828.
